Minor Professional Hockey Leagues

exploring the past hockey leagues of north america

Minor professional hockey leagues are the backbone of
the NHL. These leagues over the years have served as
training grounds for the NHL teams. Entertaining hockey
in their own right and offering non NHL players a chance
to earn a living.

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Pacific Coast Hockey League (1944-52)

After the completion of WWII the Pacific Coast Hockey League (1936-41) was revived as a
senior league. They chose to be an amateur league mainly because
the NHL had claimed territorial rights to Seattle, Vancouver, and
Portland. The NHL demanded
a large fee for the territory, and the PCHL objected to paying it.
The league restarted as a more substantial two division, nine
team set up growing to a maximum of eleven teams in 1946-47 & 1949-50. In the 1945-46 season there was a North Division (New Westminster Royals,
Portland Eagles, Seattle Ironmen & Vancouver Canucks) and a South Division (Hollywood Wolves, Los Angeles Monarchs,
Oakland Oaks, San Diego Skyhawks and San Francisco Shamrocks).
Fresno Falcons and Tacoma Rockets joined the league for
the 1946-47 season. Hollywood Wolves did not return for 1947-48.

In
1948-49 the league again turned professional. When this happened, they
did so under a trial arrangement under the NHL's supervision. The teams
operated with limited reserve lists, players that the teams had rights
over, a condition the NHL imposed on them. The league winner was awarded
the
President's Cup.

The Portland Eagles became Portland Penguins in 1948-49, the Victoria Cougars
joined the league for the 1949-50 season but Oakland Oaks folded in December
1949 after 29 games of the same season. The league reduced to a single
division and six teams for the 1950-51 season when the Fresno Falcons
left to join the United States Hockey League and the Los Angeles Monarchs,
San Diego Skyhawks & San Francisco Shamrocks dropped out. Portland Penguins changed their name back
to Portland Eagles. In the final season (1951-52) the Portland Eagles
dropped out and the Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Flyers and Saskatoon
Quakers joined from the Westen Canada Senior Hockey League.

Pacific Coast Hockey League (1944-52) Champions

The playoff championship
trophy was origionally called the President's Cup. In 1960, on the
death of Lester Patrick, the name was changed to the Lester Patrick Cup. The Cup was originally awarded in 1944-45 for the champion of the Pacific Coast
Hockey League and then was awarded to the champion of the Western
Hockey League starting in 1953.

Year

Champion

Runner Up

1949

San Diego Skyhawks

New Westminster Royals

1950

New Westminster Royals

Los Angeles Monarchs

1951

Victoria Cougars

New Westminster Royals

1952

Saskatoon Quakers

Victoria Cougars

Pacific Coast Hockey League (1944-52) Seasons

1949
Season

GP

W

L

T

GF

GA

PTs

Northern Division

New Westminster Royals

70

39

26

5

285

229

83

Tacoma Rockets

70

34

31

5

239

262

73

Vancouver Canucks

70

33

31

6

262

256

72

Portland Eagles

70

32

31

7

246

236

71

Seattle Ironmen

70

29

36

5

225

246

63

Southern Division

Fresno Falcons

70

33

30

7

213

211

73

Oakland Oaks

70

33

33

4

241

222

70

San Diego Skyhawks

70

32

35

3

249

275

67

Los Angeles Monarchs

70

28

33

9

246

271

65

San Francisco Shamrocks

70

29

36

5

273

271

63

1950 Season

GP

W

L

T

GF

GA

PTs

Northern Division

New Westminster Royals

71

36

19

16

291

233

88

Tacoma Rockets

70

34

27

9

302

238

77

Vancouver Canucks

70

33

28

9

300

263

75

Seattle Ironmen

70

32

27

11

212

237

75

Portland Penguins

71

32

30

9

237

229

73

Victoria Cougars

70

22

42

6

218

307

50

Southern Division

San Francisco Shamrocks

71

35

27

9

266

233

79

Los Angeles Monarchs

70

30

30

10

259

247

70

San Diego Skyhawks

70

27

33

10

211

236

64

Fresno Falcons

70

21

35

14

197

239

56

Oakland Oaks

29

10

14

5

89

109

29

Oakland withdrew from
PCHL December 16, 1949

1951 Season

GP

W

L

T

GF

GA

PTs

Victoria Cougars

70

35

20

15

250

216

85

New Westminster Royals

70

38

24

8

267

205

84

Tacoma Rockets

70

27

26

17

219

222

71

Portland Eagles

70

30

32

8

266

255

68

Seattle Ironmen

70

23

36

11

214

249

57

Vancouver Canucks

70

19

34

17

216

285

55

1952 Season

GP

W

L

T

GF

GA

PTs

New Westminster Royals

70

40

19

11

286

200

91

Saskatoon Quakers

70

35

21

14

273

225

84

Tacoma Rockets

70

34

25

11

293

244

79

Seattle Ironmen

70

30

31

9

252

280

69

Edmonton Flyers

70

30

32

8

244

246

68

Victoria Cougars

70

25

38

7

242

296

57

Calgary Stampeders

70

24

37

9

278

320

57

Vancouver Canucks

70

23

38

9

226

283

55

Pacific Coast Hockey League (1944-52) Leaders

Most Valuable Player

Year

Player

Team

1948-49

Walter "Babe" Pratt

New Westminster Royals

1949-50

Walter "Babe" Pratt

New Westminster Raylas

1950-51

Roger Leger

Victoria Cougars

1951-52

Lucien Dechene

New Westminster Royal

Rookie Award

Year

Player

Team

1948-49

None Selected

1949-50

Larry Reardon

Vancouver Canucks

1950-51

Joseph Houle

New Westminster Royals

1951-52

Guyle Fielder

New Westminster Royals

Leading Scorer

Year

Player

Team

Points

1948-49

Bobby Love

New Westminster

101

1949-50

Ronnie Rowe

Tacoma

91

1950-51

Eddie Dorohoy

Victoria

87

1951-52

George Agar

Calgary

93

Leading Goalkeeper

Year

Player

Team

Goals

Avg.

1948-49

Lucien Dechene

New Westminster

229

3.27

1949-50

Jerry Cotnoir

Seattle-New Westminster

220

3.05

1950-51

Lucien Dechene

New Westminster

198

2.82

1951-52

Lucien Dechene

New Westminster

199

2.84

Presented to Goaltender or Goaltenders who play with team with fewest goals scored
against during regular season. To be eligible, player must participate
in 25 complete games or a minimum of 100 minutes